John Fogarty
Rhetoric can be a deceptive bedfellow, full of empty promises and broken pledges, but it was with a sense of optimism that we listened to Liam O’Neill’s inauguration speech on Saturday.
There was little fluff. The new GAA president set out the three areas he aims to tackle: games, finance and the youth/urban challenge.
He told delegates he wants former inter-county players to take up refereeing. Easier said than done, says you, but a novel idea. To help do that he will establish a new referees development committee, which is a badly needed group as the age limit of 50 has been placed on inter-county referees and match officials’ authority is questioned more and more.
He also indicated that using the success of the cross-provincial Táin hurling league as an example the provincial boundaries on competitions might be reviewed. Champions League GAA? Don't rule it out. He also gave us some insight into his intolerance for violence in the GAA and how much he sees it impacting on the image of GAA.
“Listening to people over the last year, it has been identified to me clearly that the greatest reputational damage to this organisation is what others see as the occasional outbursts of violence by, thankfully a very small number of people.
“Let me state clearly now that, as far as I am concerned, there is no acceptable level of violence.”
But above all else, O’Neill told us what he wasn’t going to do.
As he said in his speech: “I want you to know that my presidency will not be about me but about the wider GAA and how I can best lead the organisation through service to it.”
Why should we believe him? Well, speaking on RTÉ Radio One on the previous evening, he explained how he sees his position over the next three years.
“I think it’s more important to be meeting people out on the ground. We have fantastic staff in Croke Park, we have Páraic Duffy leading it. We have six other directors charged with running the Association.
“We have around 40 people and a similar number running the stadium. Those people are picked because they’re talented, they’re committed, they’re GAA people and I certainly wouldn’t try to do the job that’s done by them.
“I will do the other role: bring the GAA to the people, talk about the GAA and affirm those who are working for us on the ground.”
So there O’Neill is on record saying he won’t be looking to exert executive power, which must come as music to their ears of those in Croke Park.
It’s not that the Trumera man was suggesting he will be merely a ceremonial president. Hardly. He aims to lead but not in such a way that it compromises or contradicts the policies devised by the GAA’s full-time employees.
It was under Nickey Brennan that attempts were made to make the GAA more business-like in how it operated. The president was seen more as a conduit between the grassroots and Croke Park.
That’s not to say there is a massive disconnect between the grassroots and the GAA’s full-time staff. For instance, would a club chairman in any other sport be able to lift up the phone and talk to the chief executive like they can with Duffy?
But O’Neill clearly identifies what his role is. His is a short time in office but one which he can make a significant difference while deferring to those who have been there before him and will be there after him.
He has also indicated Central Council will be more of an open forum for delegates and less of a committee that has become known for merely signing off on reports. The signs are promising but would they be anything else in these early honeymoon days?
Still, there’s enough tangible evidence that O’Neill will not govern but lead. When the GAA has suffered from having too many chiefs, that has to be welcomed.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/ZrCv-2jjtLE/post.aspx
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